A Shot in the Bark: A Dog Park Mystery

Author's Notes

Author's Notes

There really is a Mount Airy Dog Park, and I've been taking my furry horde there almost daily for more than eight years (It has recently been renamed the Doris Day Dog Park). A few of the park regulars made it into the book under aliases (with their permission). Any truly heinous character is a product of my mind, and not to be confused with any real person.

Terry Dunn is only slightly less intelligent in real life than he is in the book. Jose really is the nickname of an Italian guy whose family has called him Jose since he was a baby. Many of the dogs in the book exist. Mayan Ruins is a real (fabulous!) band. Their drummer, Paul Ravenscraft, is a talented massage therapist as well as the band's drummer.

The bars and restaurants mentioned are also real, but don't expect to go to the Comet and see Desiree's butt cleavage. She, and it, don't exist. To avoid jurisdictional conflicts, I have redrawn Cincinnati police districts to include the dog park in District Five. Any deviation from proper police procedure is a product of my fevered imagination and no reflection on the Cincinnati Police Department.

P.S. In the book, Peter doesn't understand Catherine's reference to Oliver North because he's under fifty. For those of you who are also under fifty, Catherine is referring to the Iran-Contra scandal of the early Eighties. During a congressional hearing, Oliver North was asked where he got the money to pay for a $17,000 alarm system. He responded that he saved the money up in his change jar. Alma would have happily explained this to Peter, but alas, there was no good place to slip that conversation into the book.